July 2013

七月


Ride bikes, eat ramen, and listen to hip hop music. What could be better?


Baby white tigers, for one.




These dudes are nuts.


But can you drift this?


I know I don't write in detail about many adventures anymore.


Shirakawa-go just happened to be on my route between Niigata and Kyoto. Score! This shit was totes in the bucket list.


Rad looking toll road up in Gifu Prefecture. Too bad it costs about $40 to drive it! And too bad they don't allow motorcycles on it! The fuck? I asked the toll gate lady and she said it was because the road is too narrow. 狭いだね！


I stopped at a nearby ice cream shop, and the ice cream maker showed me this nearby river. Neat, half goes to the Pacific, and half to the East China Sea Sea of Japan.




Mean-muggin' matsuri man.


Gion Matsuri! Another check-off. How was it, this the most famous of Japanese festivals? Pretty much just like all the other ones. If you read up a little, there is some interesting history behind the floats and what not, but on the surface these festivals are kind of crowded and hot. Just sayin.






Biwa-ko is tight. I'll be back.


I should make a separate post about some of the hikes I've done lately. This one, up the Yatsubuchi-no-take, is a must do for anyone in the Kansai area. Do it now!









www.ramenadventures.com

June 2013

六月




Okutama station to Mitake hike. This one is an intense 5 hours. If you don't have long legs do the reverse, you can take a cable car up the mountain. But if you do Okutama to Mitake, you can end closer to the Sawanoi sake brewery.










Forgot the battery for my DSLR, so this was the first time taking photos using an iPad. These shots look really really good on the iPad itself, but kind of shitty once you see them full size. Lesson learned.


Hida-gyu sushi.




I miss this spot. Pork bowl on the south side of Kichijoji.




I had plans to go to this remote kakigori (shaved ice) spot in Chichibu. Sure enough, the night before it was featured on a prime-time food show as the #1 spot in Saitama. Lines ensued.








New toilets in the subway. Word.


That time of year again!


Crazy Evangelion themed bar in Osaka.






Yankinoko. Yankee + kinoko. Basically hill billy country trash gangster-wannabee mushrooms.


There is a "pancake boom" in Japan right now. Expect lines.


I like the literal translation better . . . Cat Time!








Omotesando Koffee


My boy was ranked #7, going against the #1.


Brutal fight, but Guy D with the choke out.


This bruise was about 1 hour after the fight. Kick to the ribs.

Congrats.